An Australian Open match was delayed for 3 and a half hours because there weren't enough staff to clean all of the seagull poo off the court
- Seagulls have run amok at the Australian Open.
- Garbiñe Muguruza and Johanna Konta were supposed to play each other at 9 p.m. in Melbourne on Thursday, but a series of unfortunate events ensured they did not start until gone midnight.
- Alexander Zverev and Jeremy Chardy's five-set epic on Thursday evening was always going to delay things.
- But Australian Open officials had a cunning plan to ensure Muguruza and Konta played at a reasonable hour.
- They tried to move their match from the Margaret Court Arena to Court 3… but Court 3 was covered in bird poo.
- So it was back to the Margaret Court Arena, where their match did not finish until 03.12 a.m.
- Muguruza won, just before it was time for her breakfast.
Seagulls have wreaked havoc at the 2019 Australian Open as their wanton pooping helped cause a massive delay to a second-round match on Thursday.
Two-time major winner Garbiñe Muguruza was scheduled to play the unseeded Johanna Konta at the Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne at 9 p.m. (local time).
But Alexander Zverev and Jeremy Chardy's epic five-set thriller earlier in the day scuppered plans to hold the women's game on time, and so it was pushed back until later in the evening.
Tennis officials considered rehoming the Muguruza vs. Konta match on Court 3, but because of the late time there were not enough staff on-site to help clear up all the bird poo that was on that court, BBC Sport said.
However, for the Australian Open, the show must go on - and Muguruza and Konta were eventually able to get their show started at 12.22 a.m. on Friday morning, at the Margaret Court Arena as originally planned.
Muguruza beat Konta by two sets to one in front of 1,000 fans, ending the match at the ungodly hour of 03.12 a.m., and now faces Timea Bacsinszky in Saturday's third round.
After her victory, The Telegraph reports that Muguruza said: "I think I'll go for breakfast now."